Prijedor returnee Sudbin Musić highlights community depopulation

Sudbin Musić, a resident who returned to Prijedor 28 years ago, describes the isolation and depopulation facing returnee communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He highlights the growing loneliness and lack of social support in his neighborhood, noting that many neighbors have left and many houses remain empty.

Musić refers to renovated homes owned by people living abroad as ‘museums of sadness and loneliness,’ noting that while these structures are maintained, they lack the human presence necessary for a living community. He observes that schools in areas like Kozarac and Petrov Gaj are seeing fewer students, and that the exodus of people affects Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats alike, though returnee communities are disappearing first.

Having lived as a ‘returnee’ for nearly three decades, Musić questions when individuals who have rebuilt their lives, work, and pay taxes will be viewed simply as citizens rather than through the lens of their wartime return status.